Guardrail construction



July 21, 1936. w. c. MARTIN 2,047,991

GUARDRAIL CONSTRUCTION Filed Oct. 24, 1933 4 4 CZLJLWW; I PEI! I 335: H i W. h 4

3nventor W/LZ/AM MAI/877M attorney Patented July 21, 1936- ATENT OFFICE 6 Claims.

This invention relates to road guard construction and more particularly to a guard rail consisting of a plurality of rail members secured in overlapping end to end relation and resiliently supported on supporting members placed along the highway.

The invention is primarily designed for use along the sides of highways at such points which might present hazards 'to vehicles passing along 10 the highway. The invention has for its object the provision, in a manner hereinafter set forth, of a guard rail for preventing a vehicle from leaving the road bed sidewise thereof, thereby preventing accidents. The invention further contemplates a guard rail with resilient means for absorbing shocks as well as'reducing to a minimum damage or injury to a vehicle when the latter impacts with the rail.

The embodiment of the present invention disclosed herein consists generally of a plurality of upright supporting posts, a rail consisting of metal members having rolled longitudinal edges and secured to each other in overlapping or telescopical relation, tensioned as an entirety and anchored at each end, and resilient mountings to secure the rail to the supporting posts. The connection between the resilient mountings and the rail as well as the connection between the mountings and the supporting posts will permit longitudinal movement of the rail relative to the mountings and supporting posts to facilitate alignment of the members in assembling the guard rail. The rail, when assembled and in readiness for service, presents a substantial rigid device, the flexibility and resiliency of which is due to the inherent characteristics of the mountings and connections between the ends of the rail and end supporting posts. The mountings support the rail outwardly from the posts a sufficient distance for a vehicle wheel in engagement with the rail to avoid striking the posts entirely. The rail is tensioned as an entirety at each end so that an impact force imparted to the rail is distributed throughout the an embodiment of the invention, but it is to be understood that changes, variations and modifications can be resorted to without departing from the scope of the invention.

In the drawing wherein like reference charac- 5 ters denote corresponding parts throughout the several views:

Fig.- 1 is a fragmentary front elevational view of one end of a guard rail installation embodying my invention. 10

Fig. 2 is a top plan'view of the guard rail shown in Fig.1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view, partly in section, illustrating the manner in which adjacent rail members are secured together and the 15 means for securing the rail to the supporting posts.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary front elevation of that portion of the guard rail illustrated in Fig. 3.

With reference to the drawing, the guard rail 20 A consists of a plurality of metal rail members I disposed lengthwise and secured together in overlapping and preferably telescoping relation as shown in Fig. 4, the longitudinal edges of each rail member being rolled over to present a round- -25 'ed surface. The ends of the adjacent rail members are secured together by a plurality of bolts 2 extending through the overlapping ends to provide a substantially continuous rail, A curved spring mounting 3 is provided for supporting the 30 continuous rail from each of the posts 4. The mounting 3 is secured to the post 5 by means of a bolt 5 which engages an aperture in the mid portion of the spring member 3 and extends through the post 4. This curved spring member 3 is sub.- 35 stantially cylindrical in contour and has one end thereof overlapping the opposite end to provide a flat surface sliding contact therebetween. When the guard rail is subjected to a blow the spring member is caused to contract and the ends there- 40 of mutually support each other. One end of the spring member extends at a tangent to the body portion thereof and is substantially parallel to the continuous rail. The tangential portion, 6 of the spring member 3 is preferably provided with a plurality of vertical spaced longitudinally extending slots 1. These slots are adapted to receive bolts 8 which extend through the overlapping ends of the adjacent rail members I. The provision of the slots 1 in the end of the spring 5 member permits the longitudinal adjustment of the rail relative to the resilient mountings to facilitate the assembly of the guard rail and compensate for any misalignment or positioning of the supporting posts 6. when the guard rail has thereof.

been assembled and the position of the rail has been definitely determined with relation to the mountings and supporting posts, the nuts on the bolts 8 are drawn up tight to preclude any relative movement between the spring members and the guard rail when the rail is in service.

Adjacent each end of the rail A and spaced therefrom is disposed one of the supporting posts 4. The end of the rail is anchored to these supporting posts through the medium of a U-bolt H], the mid portion of which passes through eye bolts ll extending through and carried by the post 4. The parallel arms of the U-bolt l0 extend longitudinally of the rail A and engage suitable slots formed in the webs l2 of a channel l3 which is Welded to the back of the rail adjacent the end The arms of the U-bolt I 0 extend a substantial distance beyond the channel l3 and are adapted to receive helical springs Hi. The U-bolt I0 is preferably threaded at its end to receive nuts [5. Tension on the rail A is effected through the spring I 4 and may be varied by adjustment of the nut IE on the bolt l0.

When the vehicle strikes the rail A an individual rail member I of the guard rail A so struck is momentarily flexed but almost instantly distributes the impact force throughout the entire rail and to the resilient connection between the ends of the rail and end supporting posts thus preventing undue bending or permanent setting of the members I. If the force of the blow is great enough and projected against the ,rail adjacent one of the supporting posts the resilient members 3 between the rail and the individual supporting posts may be compressed). The rail A and spring 3 tend to spring back to their original position to push the vehicle away from the rail. Moreover, curved springs 3 form a cushion for the guard rail when a. blow is imparted thereto by a vehicle. Although the foregoing description is necessarily of a detailed character in order to completely set forth this invention it is to be understood that the specific terminology is -not intended to be restrictive or confining and it is further understood that various rearrangements of parts and modifications of detail may be resorted to without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

What I claim is: a

' 1. A road guard comprising a plurality of metal rail members secured together in end to end telescoping relation to form a continuous rail, supporting means, means for securing said rail to said supporting means including a sheet metal spring member having overlapping ends and means for connecting one end of said spring member to the rail, said means adapted to permit adjustment between the rail and spring member during assembly and prevent relative movement therebetween when the rail is in service.

2. A road guard comprising a plurality of metal I rail members secured together in end to end telescoping relation to form a continuous rail, supporting means, means for securing said rail to said supporting means including a sheet metal spring member secured to the post and having a flat surface slip contact between the ends thereof for mutual support of said ends under impact.

3. A road guard comprising a plurality of metal rail members secured together in end to end relation to form a continuous rail, supporting means, means for securing said rail to said supporting means comprising a sheet metal spring member secured to the supporting means and having a flat surface slip contact between the ends thereof for mutual support of said ends under impact, .and means for connecting one end of said spring member to the rail, said means adapted to permit adjustment between the rail and spring member during assembly and prevent relative movement 4 therebetween when the rail is in service.

4. A road guard comprising a plurality of metal rail members secured together in end to end relation to form a continuous rail, supporting means, means for securing said rail to said supporting means comprising a sheet metal spring member secured to the supporting means, said spring member beingcurved to provide an overlapping slip contact between the ends thereof, one of said ends extending at a tangent to'the body portion of said spring member and substantially parallel to the rail and means for securing said rail to said spring member.

5. A road guard comprising a plurality of metal rail members secured together in end to end relation to form a continuous rail, supporting means, means for securing said rail to said supporting means comprising a sheet metal spring member secured to the supporting means, said spring member being curved to provide an overlapping slip contact between the ends thereof, one of said ends extending at a tangent to the body portion of said spring member and substantially parallel to the rail and means for connecting one end of said spring member to the rail, said means adapted to permit adjustment between the rail and spring member during assembly and prevent relative movement therebetween when the rail is in service.

6. A road guard comprising a plurality of metal rail members secured together in end to end telescoping relation to form a continuous rail, supporting means, means for securing said rail to said supporting means including a sheet metal spring member secured to the supporting means and having a flat surface slip contact between the ends thereof for mutual support of said ends un- 

